Acetylene-gas generator.



G. T; CUNNINGHAM.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I2. Ien.

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ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I2, 1917.

1,232,231@ I I PatentedJuIy 3,1917.

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Application filed April 12, 1917.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that l, GEORGE T. CUNNING- HAM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful improvement in Acetylene-Gras Generators, of which the following is a specication.

' My invention relates to improvements in acetylene gas generators and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide an acetylene generator wherein the gas is automatically generated but which is equipped with an emergency valve operating device which will be brought into play when an abnormal pressure is generated, so as to prevent the feed of carbid to the water.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the gas pressure which operates the automatic carbid feed is taken by a by-pass to a diaphragm disposed on the opposite side of the carbid hopper from the feed valve.

A further object of my invention is to provide a feed valve for the carbid hopper which is actuated normally by the ordinary ductuations of pressure within the generator itself, but which may be actuated under abnormal pressure by the auxiliary emergency device hereinafter described.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specilication and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the device, eertain parts being shown in section,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the upper part of the generator lBig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fi 2.

ld carrying out my invention ll provide a cylindrical tank 1 preferably of sheet metal which tapers toward its top as shown at 2.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented duly 3, ligt t.

Serial No. 161,525?.

bolted to the upper edge of the tank as shown at 5. The hopper 3 has a removable cover 6 which may be opened to fill the hopper with carbid.

rlihe lower end of the hopper has an opening which is normally closed by a valve 'i'. rlhe stem 8 of this valve passes through a packing gland 9, thence through a pipe 10 which is secured to the hopper and connects with the diaphragm l1 in a easing 12. 0n the opposite side of the diaphragm is an extension 8X of the stem 8 which is secured to the diaphra and which passes'through a pipe 13 he d by the diaphragm casing. Within the pipe 13 is a screw 14e while a spring 15 is disposed between the end of the screw and a nut or collar on the stem Sx near the diaphragm.

At the bottom of the hopper 3 is a bracket 16 having guides 16a and 16b for the stem SY. A bracket 17 supports a bell-crank-lever 18 having a portion'which straddles the stem SY. Connected with the bell-crank-lever is a diaphragm 19 which is disposed in a casing 20, this diaphragm being provided with a tension spring 21 whose tension may be regulated by a screw cap 22 having a portion 22e' which engages the spring, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The diaphragm 19 is connected to the bell-crank-lever by means of a link 23.

Secured to the exterior of the tank lis an auxiliary cylinder or casing 24. The lower' part of this cylinder is fitted with water as shown at 25. A pipe 26 extends down underneath the water and communicates with an upwardly extending pipe 27 disposed within the tank. A branch pipe 28 communicates with the interior of the pipe 10 at 29., In the upper part of the casing 24e is a filtering device 30 which communicates with the delivery pipe 31.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood:

out of the pipe 35 the handle is turned into the position shown in Fig. 1 closing the intake and overflow pipes. rlhe carbid passes down by gravity past the valve 7 into the water and the gas which is generated fills the space between the top of the water and the top of the tank, and also passes down the branch pipe 27 and through the pipe 28 into the pipe 10 and then acts on the diaphragm, tending to hold valve 12 in a closed position thereby preventing the further Jfeed of the carbid. As the gas is used it passes through the pipe 2,6 and through the water and the ilter 30 and passes out through the delivery pipe 31. When the pressure lowers to a point where the pressure of the spring 15 will act then the valve is opened and more carbid is fed to the water thus generating additional gas.

It will be seen that the action is automatic and that all that is necessar is to relieve the pressure at the delivery pipe 31 in order to cause` the generation of more gas. The screw 14 isfor the purpose of regulating the pressure on the spring 15 so as to cause the opening of the valve 7 at any predetermined pressure. If by any chance the valve 7 should fail to be closed by the automatic action just explained, as, for instance, where one of the parts should break, then, of course, the carbid would feed down until an excess of gas pressure was reached. Now the diaphragm 19 and the spring 21 are regulated so as to act only under abnormal pressure but they will instantly respond to such abnormal pressure. The pressure on the diaphragm 19 will cause the bell-cranklever 18 to swing into an upper position so as to hold the valve 7 closed, thus preventing the feed-of more carbid and the generation of additional gas. It will be seen that the parts operated by the diaphragm 19 constituted an emergency device for controlling the valve 7 under abnormal conditions.

It will be noted that the automatic action of the device under normal conditions is brought about by the pressure of the gas in the by-pass 28. This obviates'the necessity of passing the gas through the body of the carbid itself. The result is that the device acts with more certainty since the .pressure is transmitted directly to the diaphragm chamber 12 and any variation of the pressure is instantly transmitted unopposed, whereas if the gas were permitted to enter the carbid chamber the forcing of the gas through the carbid itself might in many cases interfere with the ready response of the valve in accordance with the change in pressures. The use of the packing gland 9 prevents the entrance of the gas from the diaphragm chamber into the hopper while permitting the free movement of the valve stem 8. On the bottom of the tank 1 is an agitator 36 which is operated by ahandle 37.

1. A11 acetylene generator comprising a gas tank, a hopper carried in the top of said gas tank, a valve at the bottom of the hopper for feeding carbid, means actuated by variations of the normal gas pressure within the tank for controlling the valve and auxiliary means actuated by an abnormally high pressure for closing the valve independently of the irst-named controlling means.

2. An acetylene generator comprising a gas tank, a hopper carried in the top of said gas tank, a'valve at ythe bottom of the hopper for feeding carbid, means actuated by variations ofthe normal gas pressure within the tank for controlling the valve, auxiliary means actuated by an abnormally high pressure for closing the valve independently Y of the irst-named controlling means, said auxiliary means comprising a diaphragm, a diaphragm chamber for said diaphragm, said chamber communicating with the interior of said generator, and a lever disposed within the generator and having connection with said diaphragm, said lever being arranged to engage said valve.

3. An acetylene generator comprising a gas tank, a hopper carried in the top of said gas tank, a valve at the bottom of the hopper for feeding carbid, means actuated by variations of the normal gas pressure within the tank for controlling the valve, auxiliary means actuated by an abnormally high pressure for closing the valve independently of the first-named controlling means, said auxiliary means comprising a diaphragm, a diaphragm chamber for said diaphragm, said chamber communicating with the interiorof said generator, a lever disposed 'within the generatorand having connection with said diaphragm, 'said lever being arranged to engage said valve,'and means for regulating the pressure point at which the diaphragm will operate the lever.

4. In an acetylene generator, a tank, a carbid hopper disposed in the top of the tank, said carbid hopper having a laterally extending flange secured to the upper edge of the tank, the bottom of said hopper being conical and being provided with an opening at its lower end, a valve for closing the opening, a-bracket secured to the hop er, guides carried by the bracket for gul ing the valve stem, a diaphragm chamber, a

Lawaai gg packing gland carried by the hopper9 a porchamber, a spring on the opposite side of tien mi the valve stem of said valve exteiidsaid diaphragm from said packing gland fer ing through said packing gland and inte normally tending to open the valve, and an ma the interior of the diaphragm chamber, a emergency valve Closing device for acting ley-pass exiteriding from the top of `the genindependently ef said diaphragm at a preerator around said hepper and eommunicatdetermined abnormal pressure.

ing with ehe interior of the diaphragm GEDRGE TUBPIN CUNMNGHAM 

